Episode Transcript
[00:00:04] Speaker A: Hello pure powerhouses. It is my sincerest pleasure to introduce you today to a great beauty care visionary who also happens to be a very dear friend of mine, Shiri Serfati not only is Shiri actual beauty and skin care legacy, the daughter of the founders of the globally celebrated skincare brand Repechage, which has been developing the most cutting edge marine based skincare products, tools and devices since 1980.
But growing up with this in her DNA, it was only natural that Shiri fill the shoes as partner and Executive Vice President of Repechage, taking the renowned family business into the next millennium.
Shiri is also a licensed esthetician and has co founded her own boutique beauty and wellness firm Marcati Group and is the founder, developer and distributor of 23Skin, a beauty brand based on honestly sourced and raw ingredients that provide spa quality results at home.
Shiri has been quoted and featured in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Beauty Independent and on cnn, CBS and Fox and is a writer for the observer and Thrive Global Online.
If you don't yet follow Shiri on Instagram, I highly recommend you do so. You'll find her at Shiri S H I R I Sarfati S A R F A T I the illuminating out of the box subject matter of her post span the spectrum of all that is cutting edge in useful skincare tools and what it really means to be a successful leader in this industry.
I personally find Shiri to be one of the most inspirational high vibe women in the business of beauty around today.
Most of all, she is so generous with her insights and so clearly about the business of elevating the lives of those she reaches.
Shiri is a passionate and knowledgeable presenter and has been an invited speaker at aesthetics conferences around the world.
A native New Yorker, Shiri earned a Master's Degree in Cosmetic and Fragrance Marketing and Management from the Fashion Institute of Technology.
She now lives in Miami with her husband and two children.
Shiri is here with us today to share highlights of her invaluable treasure trove of beauty and skincare perspectives and to address the maze of beauty product ingredients, tools and devices that can make this category such a minefield.
Welcome Shiri and thank you so much for being here with us today.
[00:02:43] Speaker B: Thank you so much Natalia. That was so beautiful. I really appreciate you and your high vibe energy and every time I get to sit in front of you or talk to you on the phone it always can go on and on because there is so much to talk about between us and I really appreciate you inviting me on to speak to your members here today.
[00:03:07] Speaker A: Well, that's beautiful. Thank you so much. We're going to have some fun now because I want to hear all about your beauty philosophy first and foremost so we can celebrate, set the tone for everything that comes next.
So, Sherry, will you, will you share with us your beauty philosophy?
[00:03:24] Speaker B: Yeah, absolutely. I think that growing up in the skincare and spa industry, I mean, skincare was always second nature to me. So it was kind of like learning to brush your teeth. As a kid, I already learned how to do my three step skincare routine. Like, I will never forget the first time I went away to sleepaway camp.
I used to set my alarm on a couple minutes earlier than that, like blast of the bugle outdoors because I needed time to do my cleanse and my moisturizer and my sunscreen.
And this was in the fourth grade. And everyone in my bunk was like, what is Sherry doing in the bathroom for so long? But I was like, I was adamant about it because it actually never felt like a chore to me. It was really just part of my routine. And I always strongly recommend that anyone who has kids that they teach them from an early age. Because when it doesn't feel like a routine or something that I shouldn't say, when it doesn't feel difficult, you'll never think about doing it right. It's kind of like your job. If you love what you do, it never feels like work. And the same is true, which is proper hygiene tools. So really for me, it's always just about making it part of your regular routine and you'll never feel like you're doing another chore.
There is not a night that I have ever gone to sleep with my makeup on. Like, I don't care how tired I am or even if I like pass out a little on my bed for a little, I will wake up and clean my skin and before my full. My full night's rest. So it's just second nature. So I love teaching people about creating easy skincare routines that work for them and work for their lifestyle. And then when I went on my own journey of becoming a mom of two and, and when I was pregnant, obviously it's a time where most women start reflecting on the ingredients that they're utilizing on their skin. Our skin is our largest organization. And so it really became an added layer of concern of what am I applying on my skin every single day? You know, what are the fragrances behind it? What are the.
[00:05:44] Speaker A: All the.
[00:05:45] Speaker B: The things that are unseen or unknown right beyond the inky list. Of ingredients.
And so that's really when I started creating even my own clean beauty skin care line, which was 23 skin, which was to recreate this spa experience at home. Because in the spa we're able to work with really high quality raw ingredients that we mix fresh right before application. And as a busy mom, a working mom, and with two little ones, I felt like I'm in the spa industry. But I kind of became that shoemaker's daughter without any shoes. I never had time for myself in those early years. So by creating, recreating these high quality spa quality ingredients that someone could just mix and recreate a fabulous mass they can do on themselves at night, maybe when the kids are tucked in. That became my moment of self care. And that was something I wanted to share with people and why I developed my own mini indie skincare brand that also gained a lot of traction in the press and media. And I was very happy to have some celebrities understand the mission of the line and, and really get behind it. So today I wear many hats and I'm very proud to work for a USA based manufacturer which is my family business, which is Repechage skin care and also work on something that is more of a do a direct to consumer line which is 23 skin. And I really enjoy helping women just achieve healthy skincare goals and, and get great results.
[00:07:33] Speaker A: Lovely. And I mean I know with 23 and of course with Repechage you only deal in natural pure substances. So that's just a given across the board. You know, let's just make, make sure. I want to make sure everyone knows that. So there's not even like a question that this is, you know, this is good enough to eat sort of thing, as it were.
[00:07:52] Speaker B: Oh yes. I've had many a time where my kids used to get hold of my Repechage see spa hand cream and they would just start eating it from the tube. And I remember looking at my mom and she's like, it's fine, it's okay. And I'm like, okay, great. It's, it's only fine. My baby's just teething and eating his seaweed body cream.
[00:08:11] Speaker A: It's put to the test. There we go. 100% research department.
So, I mean, so.
So Shiri, what products and devices and tools really work and which don't and which do you. I know we spoke a little bit about the ones that you have a little bit of contention around because of how they're being abused and misused and overused and I don't let's let's see, where should we begin in this? Because there's. From whether it's needling or deep peels or microderm or led, there's just so many. Yeah, I think I'll let you take the lead on what you want, how you want to approach that.
[00:08:48] Speaker B: Yeah, I think, you know, again, starting with the basics of having a great skincare routine and then obviously visiting a professional licensed esthetician for monthly care services is of utmost importance.
But really during the COVID pandemic when a lot of the spas were closed, a lot of the consumers came to us and saying, well, we want to do something more, we want to create something more professional at home. And this is when we really started allowing our professional devices to be sold directly to the consumers so that they can take care of their skin on a regular basis utilizing some of these beauty tools. And the beauty tool category has exploded. Actually, 75% of female consumers currently use or are interested in trying a skincare device. So this category just became huge. And I really attribute it to starting during the pandemic. I think skincare became a growing category. I don't know if it was all the zoom calls that we did and people were really looking at their skin more or was it the reason that they weren't able to visit their professionals or their dermatologist or even their plastic surgeons and they, they decided to take care of, take better care of their skin.
So I just love a lot of these at home devices that are gentle enough, I should say, to be utilized at home.
So I am not a fan of at home devices that are going to be invasive or puncture the skin. I'm definitely not a fan of at home micro needling. So, so anything that's going to puncture the skin or cause skin damage, leave it to the professionals. And even with microneedling, and I will say this, since I am a Florida licensed esthetician, you really need to make sure that you're going to someone who is practicing within their scope of work. And as much as I hate to say this, it is not an esthetician scope of work to puncture the skin. So microneedling is actually beyond a licensed esthetician scope of work. So if you are going to go and do something more invasive that punctures the skin, please go to see a qualified doctor or nurse that is, that is licensed to do a more invasive or aggressive treatment. I think that's very important. A lot of times people are just seeing the wrong people or trying to do this at home because they saw a YouTuber do it or someone on TikTok doing it and they think that this is something that they are allowed to do at home. But you can really cause a lot of trauma to the skin. I know this is something. Yeah, yeah.
[00:11:48] Speaker A: I want to jump into this because a couple things have come up.
One is that, you know, you've got this wound healing response that I want to talk to you about in a second.
But it would seem to me that, that you could really get an infection from an unlicensed or unknowledgeable the wrong person operating a microneedling. So you've got like these two layers that shouldn't be at home microneedling. Like those roller things. Right. Are those as roller ones or. There are various approaches.
[00:12:19] Speaker B: Some of them have like now pens, even micro needling pens.
[00:12:22] Speaker A: Exactly. So you've got that. So the at home one is no go because that's just. You're not equipped to do that yourself unless you're distinctly taught how to do it certified. And then, and then there's the estheticians who are also not necessarily equipped to be doing this. And then you can wind up with infections, I would imagine all sorts of other problems. And also love you to touch on the adjacent procedure of the vampire facial.
[00:12:48] Speaker B: Oh, my goodness.
[00:12:51] Speaker A: I don't know if that's passe now, but tell me.
[00:12:55] Speaker B: No, but you, you know, the thing is with all of these things, sterilization is so important, right? So even if you're going to be utilizing a lancet, which again, in the state, every state is different, Every state has their different board requirements. But in the state of Florida, even an esthetician is not allowed to use a lancet. But if a state does allow a lancet, they have to have a sharp box in their treatment room. So they have to be disposing of these things the correct way or doing proper sanitation. So if your esthetician is just, you know, saying, oh, I clean my tools at the end of the day, well, that is not good enough. Or oh, I spray alcohol, I'm sorry, that's not good enough. We need to have proper sterilization of our implements that we're utilizing in the treatment room because exactly what you said, if the treatment room sterilization process is not being conducted in the correct way, and now if we're drawing blood, that comes with a whole other guidebook of how to sterilize and how to dispose. Well, not only are we looking at potential skin infection, staph infection, mrsa herpes. I mean, but the list can go on. I mean we've seen, right, we've read the news when these things happen of someone who ended up with a vampire facial and then ended up contracting hiv, I mean, this is a real possibility.
So really it is of utmost important to know who are you seeking these type of professional treatments from and what are their sanitation guidelines, SOPs, standard operating procedures for whatever the procedure is. But I will say what I like to use. Because light therapies have been used since ancient times, we really understand the benefits of light therapy. It's one of the oldest therapeutic treatments.
Sunlight benefits in treating skin diseases have been used for thousands of years.
So with our LED devices that I know you have said have become quite popular among your members, LEDs are complex semiconductors that are able to convert electrical current into narrow spectrum light. So we're able to gently and effectively utilize LED lights at home and have great results. And I know this is different, I should say, than the more advanced uses of lasers which would be penetrating the skin much deeper than an LED light therapy that we're going to be utilizing at home. So this is going to be gentle, effective at home treatments where we can actually gain the best results. So. So it's kind of the same way plants use chlorophyll to convert sunlight into plant tissue. LEDs can trigger that natural intracellular photobiochemical reactions.
And this can range from anything from skin tightening, anti aging results to also sebum reduction and also a reduction in inflammation in the skin. Again.
[00:16:38] Speaker A: Okay, so a couple things there. I want to, I want to explore the different kinds of devices that are for that. I also want to get your take, if we could just go back a little for a second to the vampire facial and the needling to unpack a little bit more so we, so that we can give the listeners a chance to determine whether they're even favorable under the right circumstances.
So separately, microneedling and vampire facial, what do you think of them as a beauty application under the best circumstances?
[00:17:17] Speaker B: I personally, I understand the reasons for the vampire facial. Again, this would require the phlebotomist. So someone who is trained in working with blood and here we're working with the blood platelets that are then massaged into the skin.
And I know clients who have incorporated this in their professional treatments and have had great results.
I just get wary with recommending anyone to do a procedure like this. And I also just get wary.
I'm not a good blood person. I just don't like to draw blood, unless it's required.
And then to apply it to my skin. It just seems, it seems like it's one of those hyped up treatments because a Kardashian talked about it and then everyone and their mother wants to learn about it. I think that we can get, get better and greater results through muscle stimulation, through light therapy, and through even manual massage manipulation on the skin. I, I really don't think there's. It's necessary to go to the extreme of drawing blood.
And, and, and I think the contraindications are far, are far were more riskier than beneficial is my take on it.
[00:19:01] Speaker A: I'm so glad you said that. I just, I wanted it to be aired. I wanted it to be. I wanted us to at least open the box and discuss it, like not leave it unpacked. But at the same time, I also think it's like, why would you need to go that far? You know, if you're taking care of yourself properly, that's just ridiculous. But we had to bring it up anyway.
[00:19:19] Speaker B: It's one of those things that are hyped, you know, and suddenly everyone's reading about it.
It's kind of like the TikTok trends, right? Like I, I tried it because I saw it on, on TikTok, but you know, all those TikTok challenges sometimes get people, you know, in trouble. So they're not always the best, the best advice.
[00:19:39] Speaker A: So then just to knock the last pin down there in that bloody zone. The microneedling.
What I've noticed with microneedling is that I think people's skin tends to get thicker with it.
I've never been a fan of it, I've never done it myself, but I know how popular it is and I know some estheticians who also, who really swear by it. And I know some women in their early 20s who are doing it and just like, why? But I guess they're also.
It's unbelievable how young people are getting fillers and things as well. We can get to that separately. But microneedling is just so popular.
[00:20:16] Speaker B: It is, it is so popular. Actually, we even as a company couldn't shy away from it because our estheticians were asking us to talk about it and to feature it.
So what we've developed is, okay, if the community is doing it, at least let's help with how to take care of the skin post microneedling. So a lot of the research is stemming from the early 90s has come out of this philosophy of when you cause skin trauma, your skin has that Wound healing response. Right. It's a natural wound healing response. So your skin is going to respond to a wound by rebuilding. Right.
The problem with this philosophy, yes, it might initially work, however, over time. And this is, this is the part. Right. It's kind of like, do you want those quick fixes and immediate results or do you want the longevity on those long term results? Because over time, if we continue to cause harm and trauma to our skin, over time, our skin will thin out, it will start sagging, it will start wrinkling, you will lose the firmness and the elasticity in the skin. So, yes, quick fix, great.
But what happens 10 years down the line, 20 years down the line, 30 years down the line? You know, I want my clients to have skin for the long haul.
And again, going back to the fact that our skin is our largest organ, like, why are we constantly wounding it? Why do we need to constantly be causing trauma? Let's rebuild the barrier. Let's protect your barrier. And let's not forget that the skin is a barrier. So when you're wounding it, it can't function properly.
[00:22:24] Speaker A: That's so important. I love that you said that. And by the way, when I said that, I think that I know skin getting thicker. I didn't mean thicker as in better. I want to clarify that. I mean thicker as in weird. Like almost like, not. Not appealing. Almost leather, like, like a thick leather or something. So clarify that. So not thin versus th. Thick versus thin. But thick verse is right.
[00:22:47] Speaker B: But it does. It will thin out over time. Right. So one of the things that happens naturally as we age is thin skin will become thinner. But. But by doing these aggressive treatments over time, we're just accelerating that aging process.
[00:23:09] Speaker A: Yeah. And the fact that people are not thinking long term or that their estheticians are, are willing to do something in the short term without, you know, considering the long term situation for their clients. Also a little bit like, you know, it just, it just seems a bit wonky.
[00:23:23] Speaker B: Doctors too. Doctors and. Right. And any, any. You know, there's a lot in the medical field too that are.
[00:23:30] Speaker A: The whole med spa thing, I kind of forgot for a moment that existed, but that's obviously in like a massively growing industry. I, I deflect my eyes from that sort of thing because I'm not engaging with it. And I kind of forget, like, I forget people still eat M&M's. I forget that they're med spas, but I know they must be. Okay. That's amazing. Thank you for sharing that. Do you want to Jump into microderm. Isodermabrasion abrasion.
[00:23:54] Speaker B: Yeah, I feel like it's not. I feel like it was bigger.
It was a bigger topic back in the day.
It's just again, another aggressive type of exfoliation technique.
But I don't, I don't think that. I think it's definitely waning in popularity. I'm not hearing much about it these days.
[00:24:14] Speaker A: Yeah, no, same. That's true. And so what I do hear a lot about is the fractal, the fraxel facial and the photo facial and these, these, like laser. They're.
[00:24:28] Speaker B: They're treatment a lot of lasers.
[00:24:30] Speaker A: Yeah, they go a lot deeper. Right. And the deep, deep peels.
So anything in that area you'd like to speak to, like the. Where you have a ma. I mean, I guess this is bit of the ruined recovery situation again, because it's. When I've seen people who've had it done, they'll say, oh, don't look at me today, I've just had the. My deep peel. And, you know, it's. It's. In a couple of weeks it'll all have healed. And I think it has to do with the collagen regeneration through the wound response of damage. But, you know, again, it's like when you're living this way, when you're. When we're cellularly cleansing our bodies, we don't need to worry about any of those sorts of things. You know, I wouldn't dream of having any of these things that we've just spoken about.
There wouldn't be a need. But, you know, if you're trashing your insides and you're trying to fix things externally, you know, you'll sort of grasp at straws in that way and do anything you can. But it's, it's quite shocking when you've actually seen someone who's just had one of those deep peels or lasers done. I can't remember which I've seen, now that I think about it, but they're so red and so it's like, you know.
Yeah. And so much has come off their face. It's like we're going to rebuild this space again on top of that.
[00:25:49] Speaker B: Exactly. Yeah. That is what they're hoping, Hoping to do.
I mean, again, going back to the differences between LED and lasers, I mean, a significant difference is the way the light energy is delivered. So the peak power output of an LED is measured in milliwatts and the lasers are measured in watts. So they are penetrating far deeper than the LED devices. Are so again, the led, you're still getting that light energy delivered, but in a much more gentle delivery.
And it's the same wavelengths of light compared to lasers, but a significantly lower energy output. So I think that's really the significance, and this is just my philosophy in general is that we can achieve great results with gentle exfoliation, gentle modalities.
And there's no real need to have a deep chemical peel where you're just peeling off layers and shutting off layers of skin.
Your skin naturally exfoliates every 27 days. Like this is nature. Right.
We don't need to push beyond this much further. We can just help it. We can nudge it a little with some gentle exfoliation. So we're just helping our natural process versus taking it to the edge, if that makes sense.
[00:27:38] Speaker A: Yes. And in terms of that, since it is a much lower, less invasive degree of led, I know you guys have the wonderful wand that combines the LED with the, the electromagnetic pulsing.
How often would those using a wand at home. And I did put the repechage device on our recommended list. So in, in terms like how often, if someone were to get that, how often they should use it in order to really get the best benefits and best skin response from it and than in terms of long term. So like maybe getting it going and then maintenance, what is the commitment with that and to really see the results that, you know, that you've seen.
[00:28:21] Speaker B: I mean, you're really getting the best of both worlds because you are getting the electrical muscle stimulation combined with the LED light therapy.
So we're really, actually, it really becomes almost a workout for your skin because we're able to stimulate the muscle and pulse the muscle so it contracts and reacts. And, and this is really important, I say even for my clients that do do Botox, obviously not initially immediately after the Botox, but we want to make sure that your muscles are still being stimulated, otherwise they're going to atrophy, you're going to have volume loss.
So it is very important to do muscle stimulation whether it's through mechanical devices or whether through manual manipulation. And we can do a lot with our fingertips as well.
But this is something that you can utilize on a daily basis. Okay. Really, Sherry, I'm going to start doing this on a daily basis. Well, you can. It really doesn't take more than seven minutes.
But then if you, if you're really like, I just can't find the time. I mean, start off small, start off two to three times a week, and then you can work yourself up to utilizing this type of manipulation on a regular basis. And again, you don't have to use a device. I just think devices are easier for our clients to understand and they kind of do the work for. For you than to.
To know exactly correct massage movements or correct muscle stimulation utilizing your fingertips.
And people, I think, just get bored.
[00:30:12] Speaker A: But for the laser.
[00:30:14] Speaker B: How long am I going to do this for, Sherry?
[00:30:17] Speaker A: But right. Having most amazing facials at Rapechon. I know that they definitely know what they're doing with their hands there.
But in terms of having the device for the LED light, you do. We do need. Of course, we need that. So to have the device incorporated, having the LED with the electrode pulsation, that. That makes it very handy. I mean, are you getting the same kind of light when you go into the sun, for example? I do a ton of sunbathing. I'm getting a lot of that red light just through my sunbathing. I know a lot of people are afraid of the sun, and this group is a little bit. A lot better educated around, you know, caring for their skin and also getting ample sunlight.
[00:30:56] Speaker B: We're humans. You know, the sun is what gave us life so many years ago.
So I mean, the best protection against sunlight, right, is just not going during peak hours, you know, so you can get a lot of great sunlight. And obviously the sun today is much stronger than it was back in the day. I mean, I know my dad, he grew up in Israel and he told me we used to spend the whole day on the beach and like, nothing when would ever get burned. And now he's like, I spend an hour on the beach and he's red like a lobster and he has more melanin than I do in my skin. And he's just. The sunlight is so different today. So. Yes. Is there a safe way of. Of getting wonderful light therapy? 100%. 100%. Just don't go during peak hours, especially here in South Florida. Right.
[00:31:48] Speaker A: Because, you know, I find that my skin is very tight and I'll be 48 in two days and I don't feel there's any light.
You know, I've never had anything done. I've never had, you know, a peel or never get botox me that stuff. And I feel like it's as tight as it's ever been and I do get a lot of light. So maybe is it possible that under the right conditions, with a cleansed body, and for all the. And all the right usage of the sun at the right hours, you know, I'll usually Wear a PCAP or, or straw hat, because I do protect my face. But nevertheless, I must be getting enough of that red light over. I must have been getting off that red light over the years is because it's the same light. It's just, it's just not solely like I'm using, right? I mean, am I getting.
[00:32:34] Speaker B: That's how I started this conversation. I mean, this is ancient therapies, right?
The problem is today that we're most of the population. We do not work outdoors. We are not in.
We are not outside as much. We're in front of our screens much more often. So most people don't get sunlight. I mean, at minimum, 10 minutes a day. Right? I mean, at minimum. But people aren't even getting that.
[00:33:05] Speaker A: Yeah, you're right.
So, all right, so that, and the fact that that device exists is really cool. I've actually never used it. Um, but I've seen it and I. It's. It looks amazing.
[00:33:15] Speaker B: But we have to get you one. Did. I know you have to get you one. You're going to have to try.
[00:33:20] Speaker A: I think I told you I got the other one. You're like, oh, you should have let me know that before. But I think that the, the, the pulses are so interesting because we do get a bit lazy and don't, you know, don't always think, hey, let me, let me do my facial massage. I do love the, the vacuum as well the, the facial cups. You can speak to those in a second if you want to. I've got so many more questions for you.
[00:33:39] Speaker B: No, I have to say, on the EMS talking, I know we, we talked a little bit about microneed.
Describe this to my clients. Is it feels a little bit like, like microneedling because you feel like you have these little needles on your skin and you can actually see when the device is on your skin. You can see a lifting like this will happen or this will happen. And it's, it's. People get, wow. I've never felt that sensation before when I, when I utilize it in my treatments. And I said, well, this is something you can do at home. You can do this on a regular basis. There's no problem.
[00:34:15] Speaker A: See, I love the sound of that. It makes so much sense. I'm a huge fan of Nikola Tesla, and for him it was everything that. We live in an electrical universe and electricity is alive and it's not. We're not talking about artificial electricity that, you know, like, everything is based on. We are electrical beings, so we, when we don't move and Our, our cells get clogged, we basically just snuff that electrical impulse out. So it makes so much sense that to, to simultaneously be cleansing the body of the obstruction to the electrical impulses and then introducing and reintroducing reminding the body of its electrical impulse through a device like this makes so much sense. So I love that, that lines up beautifully. Anything you want to say about bringing fresh blood without drawing blood to the skin? That's why I love the bellabace cups, because the facial cups that, you know, you can do suction and then you send the blood directly to the places where you're vacuum cupping. What do you, how do you feel about that?
[00:35:14] Speaker B: I mean, any type of, any type of stimulation is going to increase the circulation in your skin, right? We understand this inherently for body massage. And I feel like most of the population understands why and when they want to go get a body massage. And this is just a learning curve. Like we need to understand we have an intricate amount of muscles, facial muscles, you know, and so stimulating our facial muscles on a regular basis.
Yes, it increases blood flow, blood circulation. This is going to help with your collagen and your elasticity in the skin. So collagen is what gives your skin that firmness and elasticity is what gives it the snap. I often think that a lot of clients that rely on plastic surgery, they end up, what you were talking about, having that dense looking skin, right.
It almost looks like it has too much collagen because it's just super firm without the bounce and the snap. But youthful looking skin always has the balance and the snap to it as well.
And so stimulating manual stimulation of this, doing any, any of those, whether it's gua sha or cupping or any of those modalities, or electrical muscle stimulation or manual manipulation, any of those tools are going to help bring blood flow to the skin, which is going to make you look rosy cheeked and fantastic and glowy and healthy and it's going to keep your muscles looking taut. Right. I mean it truly is a workout for your face. Because we don't get to work out our face. We don't get to go to the gym and work out our face. So how can we do this to increase that blood flow to our skin on a regular basis?
[00:37:20] Speaker A: Right. I love that.
[00:37:21] Speaker B: And with anything, just knowing how to use it, because a lot of those cupping devices, if you don't know how to use it, you can cause bruising.
[00:37:30] Speaker A: On your skin if you overdo it, if you like. Yeah, I've seen that happen.
[00:37:34] Speaker B: Or if you don't know how, how to use it, you can cause bruising. So I would, I would like to avoid, avoid that type of bruising because bruising is trauma. So we, we want to increase blood flow, but we don't want to cause bruising.
[00:37:49] Speaker A: Right. And if anyone's doing this at home, using the belloxic or hasn't used them before and wants to make sure you're saying skin has a nice bit of oil on it, you want it to be like really nicely oiled up. And then you want to make sure you keep the cup moving. You never want to hold it in one place. Sometimes I'll hold it on my lips for a minute just to bring a little bit of blood flow and I'll look like, you know, Daffy Duck. But, but that's the only place I would do that. Otherwise, wherever you leave it for too long, it will, you know, get really red and could cause bruising. But that, So I mean, basically a couple things, takeaways from that wonderful delivery. There is one is that, you know, at the end of the day, it's does come down to blood flow, clean blood delivering oxygen to every cell. Every cell needs oxygen. That's why the whole system of the vascular venous system works the way it does. It's a delivery system because cells can't live without fresh blood and that, and the fresh blood is oxygen. It's an oxygen delivery system. And if your cells, and if your blood is, is not in its cleanest, it's not going to be able to deliver the oxygen. So clean body, clean blood, lots of flow, lots of oxygen getting to every cell and moving, preventing stagnation, avoiding stagnation, knowing that things left alone will stagnate and that deterioration cycle, that decay cycle will ensue, should it not be, you know, seen to.
[00:39:14] Speaker B: So I just heard this thing that it's like sitting is the new smoking, right? Like, we all know smoking is bad for you and many of us gave it up in the 80s, but sitting is the new smoking because people are just not moving.
[00:39:30] Speaker A: And we never sat like, we never had chairs until the advent of, you know, of whatever started. I mean, I'm guessing sometime after the agricultural revolution kicked in because people were squatting and they were bouncing around and we probably sat like grasshoppers most of the time. So, so yeah, we weren't, if we, if we were sitting, we were either squatting or our body was on the earth getting the electromagnetic energy from the earth. So there's, yeah, that's, that's I like that. I guess that's. That explains why so many people use the standing desks now and all of that. Some people, I think use their. Instead of just a standing desk, they're on a. On a treadmill.
[00:40:13] Speaker B: Oh, I saw. Yeah, I know a few people that do that. They're working on their treadmills. I don't know. I feel like there's too much balance for me. Like, I feel like that would. That would be difficult for me to be walking and typing an email. I don't know if I could do that just yet. I'm not that coordinated.
[00:40:30] Speaker A: Or maybe they're taking their zoom calls and things that way.
[00:40:33] Speaker B: Right, right.
[00:40:34] Speaker A: It's the stagnation classification and you can't. Cells don't want to be lazy. Don't make them be lazy. And then you won't have to do ridiculous things.
[00:40:45] Speaker B: Yeah, I mean, look, I feel like this is gonna.
You know, I lived in Japan in my early 20s and I remember going to a public toilet and I walk into the stall and there's just two little grooves to put your feet on and a hole. And I was like, what, what am I supposed to do right now?
I was dressed to the nines. I had a skirt and tights and everything. And I was just like, oh, no. I don't know if I could really do this. But by the end of my stay in Japan and I was there for almost six months, I just didn't even want to use what they called Western toilets because it was just so much cleaner and easier and better to use the Japanese style toilets. And, you know, so just even the way that we use the restroom is so different. Right. In Western culture versus Eastern culture. And some of the things that we take for granted, I think. Right. Or other cultures take for granted. I mean, we've just.
I don't know what to say, like, bastardized them. Like, we've made more complicated and more difficult and less to our nature of things.
And that's probably why a lot of people, like, I know when my kids can't go, I tell them to get up on that stool and squat, you know?
[00:42:25] Speaker A: Good for you, mama.
They also have made a bad name for things that were used like enemas historically over the centuries. It's like, what do you mean? I put water up there, then you're going to ruin your floor. But they've been doing this since the Egyptian days.
It's a really good point. I'm glad you brought that up. So everybody get to squatting or at least get A stool out. I call it the stool for your stool.
[00:42:50] Speaker B: I know we have to. We have to change all the. The bathroom stalls in our house. Right. It's just a simple thing sometimes, and, and you don't realize them sometimes until you travel. And I think that was one of my things that I really enjoyed doing is I. I traveled to over 25 countries by the time I was in my 20, early 20s. And you really get an incredible worldview when you travel and you experience other cultures and, and when you're not just visiting, but really immersed in the cultures.
It makes a huge difference. And I think that having that world perspective has really changed my perspective on a lot of things. In Western cultures, we just think, oh, that's the way things are done, and it's not true.
[00:43:39] Speaker A: Yeah, great point.
Americans need to get out there and check things out a little bit, for sure.
I want to talk to you about Botox. I know you've got a lot to say on that subject, and I'd love you to just lay it all out. Don't hold back.
[00:43:52] Speaker B: Well, I always feel that there's too much pressure today around Botox. Like it has become more and more of my clients don't even say if I get Botox anymore. They're saying, when I get Botox.
It has become so normalized in our society, and I think it is because of this growing population of influencers that we see on social media, on Instagram or TikTok, that make going to their regular Botox visit the same as, and more commonplace than it is to go and get your hair blown out. Right. Without any information to the end consumer of what really are the contraindications of getting Botox? Like, this is not the same as getting a blowout.
And there are contraindications that people are not made aware of and unfortunately, until it's too late, because they just think it's so commonplace and so normal.
But I always hesitated a little to. To talk about it because I always felt that people would say, you know, well, if it makes me feel good, why, why do you care? And I don't. I don't. If it makes you feel good, great.
You know, have at it. But I do also want to be a voice in the skincare community that is also sharing advice that you don't need to get it to have great skin, have great results, and also be confident. Be confident.
It's okay to have a wrinkle. It is okay to have smile lines.
It's okay to age gracefully and feel good about it. I think also some of my conversations around it, a lot of clients that I see getting Botox, it doesn't help their confidence level. They're still adding the filters on their Instagram account. And there's nothing wrong with filters, but you would think that if you're doing this that you would have maybe extra confidence. And trust me, everyone loves a good filter. I love a good filter. There's nothing wrong with a good filter.
And, but you know, the, the truth is then if we're talking about confidence, is it really helping the confidence? Okay, that being said, right?
Just I would like to stop normalizing it. If you want to do it, great, but don't feel the pressure of having to do it.
And there are contraindications doing this. I mean, the fact is people will say, oh, it's totally fine. The FDA cleared it. Well, the problem is that they didn't clear it to the use case that we're utilizing it today. They cleared it for a use case that is once. Now people are going into the clinics every three months. This is not what was studied and how it's being used. It is overused, it's abused.
It's addicting. I think it's addicting. It's kind of like getting blonde highlights and then suddenly one day you're platinum.
It has the same cumulative effect on your psyche. And I think long term, we really still don't. Even though it's been around for 20 years, we still really don't understand fully how people are utilizing it today. And I think that is something that unknown. Terrifies me a little. That being said, things that we can look out for. Obviously, the downside of Botox is, okay, slight bruising if your injector went a little too deep. And also we can also have the muscles, obviously going to a great injector is, is very important and someone who's board certified, et cetera. But this can happen even with the best doctors. Okay. And I've seen it happen. You know, collapsing eyebrows, asymmetrical face, drooping eyelids, even drooping facial expression in the face. And all the standards of beauty, right, are about symmetry. So if you're doing something that makes you look asymmetrical, it's really not the look that, that you're. You're trying to achieve at, at that moment.
Muscle atrophy as well a concern.
And the thing that I've noticed a lot, maybe something that people don't talk a lot about, is that when you are numbing, right, we are, we are numbing the muscles Nerves. What is happening is you're going to have an over compensation in other areas. So if we are going to relax this muscle here, you are still making that expression, but you are unable to express it. So those expression lines you might notice a lot of. I noticed this on newscasters. They end up having wrinkling in the nose area. This is not a normal place to get wrinkling, okay?
And yet everyone I see who has overdone Botox ends up getting a wrinkling in the nose area.
Over compensation by other muscles is what's going to happen. The other thing I've noticed is an elongated forehead. Okay. Some people actually go in for this procedure because they want an elongated forehead, but most people don't. Why is this happening? Because of the frontilles muscles is actually your occipital muscles are here. So when you are numbing the frontilles muscles, you're going to have an equal and opposite reaction back here by your occipital muscles, which is going to create an elongation of the forehead. Okay? So notice every. This is something that gets me and you will start noticing it. The people that I see, especially on social media, they start looking a little bit like alien coneheads. You know, maybe, maybe, maybe, maybe the aliens have just all done too much Botox. That is the future self that must.
[00:50:11] Speaker A: Be really negatively impacting the cerebral spinal fluid because there's a pinching happening at the base of the cerebellum and everything. I mean, it just seems like there's all sorts of things happening in the skull and that would affect the spinal cord and could give you headaches and other problems and maybe even impact hormonal secretions in a negative way. Just seems like a domino effect, a house of cards.
[00:50:33] Speaker B: Well, you are injecting a known toxin into your body, right. And this always gets me, right? It's the, it's, it's the clients that come in and they say, oh, I really want clean ingredients and I want, you know, the cleanest, purest products. And then.
And yet they're going in every five months or six months or three months for their Botox injections. Like, I don't understand it, right? I don't. I think there's a meme about it, but I, I really don't understand it.
[00:51:04] Speaker A: I'm so glad you explained that to us so beautifully. And so it's such great detail. Can you speak on Restylane Rejuven or maybe even not if you don't want to address the brand names of them. The concept of these injectables for plumping the skin.
[00:51:18] Speaker B: And there's a lot of various different, like you have mentioned various different type of injectables. Back in the day when injectables were just starting, they were more chemical base. Now we're, we're utilizing things that are naturally found in the body like hyaluronic acid that can be injected in order to fill certain areas. So these are fillers. So basically if you had a crease in the forehead or you want to fill out these lines or your smile lines, this is where an injectable like hyaluronic acid injection could be utilized. It's not going to last too long, right? At some point it's to, going, going to dissolve. But these are, I don't know how natural. I mean I haven't gone in and checked every single ingredient in there, but are supposed, there are some that are supposed to be more, more natural than others. And that's all I'm going to say about it because I'm not a doctor, I don't do injectables and I haven't worked with injectables and I don't know all the ingredients that are or the list. I haven't investigated the list of ingredients that are in them. But I would definitely check anything that is FDA approved or that you get at a medical practice. Don't take it face value. You can always get a list of ingredients for that product. And don't be afraid to ask. I find this interesting. You know, people ask me all the time like about ingredients in my skincare products and we literally have a label and you know, have to disclose all the ingredients and the ones that we don't. I will gladly help break down the ingredients for my clients, but for some reason people are intimidated to ask their medical practitioners about a list of ingredients. And this goes for anything that you inject, whether you inject something into your child or yourself, ask for that list of ingredients because there might be something hiding in there. Like latex.
[00:53:24] Speaker A: Yeah. Yeah. So, okay, that's, that's great. I appreciate that, that as well.
[00:53:29] Speaker B: What I've noticed. I do, I do hope it's moving towards if we can find things that are more natural born or things that are already recurring in, in your body that, that you can get good results with. I mean I, I think that there, there might be an opportunity for that. But again like I said and like, you know, and, and you and I, we, we just don't do it. But I do think that there has been research around it to get better.
[00:54:00] Speaker A: Well, because in the sort of historical injections, I don't know how things have evolved since, but I did, I noticed that people who were getting this, these injections regularly would get these little clusters and I, I perceived it to be the residue, the unabsorbed part of the substance that was injected. So it'd be like these, you know, they might just have a fresh injection, but yet there'd be like these, almost like the skin was clustering in, in areas where the, let's say there was a, a district, almost a, a sediment. Maybe that's the way to put it. Like a sediment that resided was lodged in the skin tissue. And so whatever benefit, aesthetic benefit you might be getting from the plumping or the wrinkle remover removal was, you know, offset by this sediment that looked really unappealing. So I don't know, I just, I just think there's again, it's, it's short term, long term benefit and you and I are on the same page. It's like all about the long term. And everything we're doing should be sowing the seeds for the most glorious garden. And you know, in the decades ahead, we want to have beautiful.
[00:55:18] Speaker B: Yeah, no, and I agree with you. I mean, I think back in the day, you know, people were, you know, being silicon in their, in their bodies, you know, and obviously this would dissipate because this would just stay in your body. So.
Yeah, and the, the, the kind of coagulation of any of these ingredients can obviously happen, which, you know, I've seen people like, oh, you need to massage it, you need to move it, but you don't want to move it around too much because it'll go to a wrong area. So it's just, it is very dicey. And I even know, I've seen clients who will remove their own fat, you know, to put into areas that they want plumped up, like the nasal fobial lines. And I've seen this fat even, oh, it's my own fat. It's, it's fine, it's healthy. But then this fat kind of starts drifting off to the side and goes to an area that you didn't intended to be in. I mean, there are so many complications to this. So yes, even the, the most natural and injectable like you would think, is my own fat that I'm just going to remove and reinsert into another area of my body. Of course there's contraindications to this, right? This, this is still a medical, it's Still a medical procedure 100%.
[00:56:42] Speaker A: I've heard that happen with freezing fat and with lipo because like if you freeze the fat, apparently the fat cells are dead. But so, so you'll have fat accumulate in the weirdest places like you know, I don't know, like on your arm or on your funny place on your back or maybe popping out of who knows where out of your foot. But because it's got to go somewhere, but it can't go there now. It's the obvious place where, you know, fatty tissue would normally be up completely, you know, offset.
[00:57:11] Speaker B: Yeah, but I mean, and the other thing is that the injectables that are going to dissipate at least aren't staying in the body. Hopefully those will resolve over time, land.
[00:57:26] Speaker A: Up in the gut. So you can get a few colonics or use your enlightener to help ease their passage out of the body. Otherwise I mean they, it will just reside with all the other acidic matter in the tissue.
[00:57:39] Speaker B: 100%.
[00:57:41] Speaker A: So interesting.
Is there anything you would like to tell our listeners and leave them with today? Any, any special insights or some, any kind of modalities, anything we didn't touch on that they should know or.
[00:58:02] Speaker B: I think the most important thing is look at yourself in the mirror at least twice a day and love on yourself. Just look at yourself and say, you are beautiful, you are gorgeous, you are stunning, you look glowing.
And I think that those things being said to yourself and have a loved one also say to you from time to time is really the best thing to have glowing skin for years to come. Because I will tell you, those happy hormones are going to give you all the glow you need 100%.
And remember, stress increases your cortisol levels which will wreak havoc on your skin. So start your day with a positive mantra to yourself. Smile. Surround yourself with loving, incredible people. I'm so lucky to have Natalia in my life to give me that wonderful positive feedback because sometimes, you know, we all need it and we all need to hear it and, and then touch yourself, I mean, I think that is, is one of the things why I always say manual manipulation is so incredible because touching yourself, hugging someone, being touched, hugging your child or your partner, skin to skin contact, all of those things are going to increase your oxytocin levels and make you feel radiant. And rush, we were talking about blood flow rush. What wonderful ways of increasing circulation in your skin. And you can do this in a wide variety of ways, whether it's giving yourself a beautiful facial massage at home or going to see your skin care professional for that burst of circulation and blood flow or just again, wonderful skin to skin contact that's going to increase those great hormones in the skin. I think those are what are so important. Go get out there a little more, jump on a trampoline like Natalia says. I mean, go, move.
And you will see, you will see that glow within, glow without. And I think those are the most important things. I hope anyone listening to this podcast feels free to follow me on Instagram at sherrisarfani. I'm happy to answer any of your burning skincare questions that we didn't cover today or even help you with. Just getting yourself on a go, great routine that you can stick to and get those incredible transformational results that we're all looking for.
And. And that's it. I appreciate you, Natalia. Thank you so much for having me on today to speak to your incredible group of members.
[01:00:58] Speaker A: Oh, Sherry, we are so blessed to have had you. Thank you for bringing your beautiful luminous light and leaving us with that really perfect vision of inspiration to. To love and be loved and share that oxytocin and the joy and the happiness. At the end of the day, that is what it's all about. And you're such an inspiration.
Keep spreading that word and it's obviously all working for you, whatever you're doing. And I know what you're doing, you just shared it with us so we can all have that outcome as well. Thank you, Sherry. It's wonderful.
